Katharine O'Brien

Director and screenwriter Katharine OBrien was born in Santa Barbara, CA and studied English at Wellesley College. Katharine worked at Muse Film (Virgin Suicides, Buffalo 66) and as a television writing assistant with Kids in the Hall and Russo Brothers before receiving her MFA in film directing at Columbia Universitys graduate film program. Katharines award-winning short films have played numerous film festivals. Her first feature film The Automatic Hate, which she co-wrote, premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and played top international festivals such as Busan and Mar del Plata, winning the Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival. In Katharines directorial debut, Lost Transmissions, she draws heavily from personal experience dealing with mental health in her own family. Her upbringing was varied, her father was a police officer in South Boston, and her stepfather was a prominent art dealer in New York City. Through her stepfather she was exposed to the great artists of the 20th century and was inspired to pursue art, photography and writing at an early age. Katharines career in narrative film allows her to combine these passions with a dose of social realism, believing that film is a conversation between art and popular culture. Katharine currently resides in Silverlake, Los Angeles, where she is actively involved in promoting art and film culture, having served on the boards of Lacma and the Cinefamily Foundation.